Pot of Greed
by In Stiches
Summary: A collection of Yu-Gi-Oh!5D's Drabbles based on various inspirations. Reedited and continued on Tumblr! (link on profile)
1. Immane, Luciferous

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Kiryu would have had more screen time.

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Immane- monstrous in character

Luciferous – providing light or mental insight

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Monster…

They called her a monster.

They were her _parents_, weren't they supposed understand?

Weren't they supposed to love her no matter what?

_Did_ they love her?

Her Papa **slapped **her.

Her Mama looks at her with **fear**.

_They didn't, did they?_

Fine

That was fine

She didn't love them either

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I don't believe in fate or destiny. I believe in various degrees of hatred, paranoia, and abandonment. However much of that gets heaped upon you doesn't matter - it's only a matter of how much you can take and what it does to you. 

-Henry Rollins  
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There was a painful longing in those blue eyes, a sort of wistful want that caused undeterminable agony. Yusei however, refused to act on the pain. He just continued to watch Aki without her attention –caught in helpless thrall.

Frankly, Crow was sick to death of it.

Yusei could face down the possible end of the world without a blink, defeat the toughest of duelists without a sweat, and build a freaking D-wheel from scratch. It was pathetic that he couldn't tell a girl who was so obviously in love with him that he loved her to.

**Gees**

"Just **fucking** tell her already!"

"_What_?"

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Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control

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	2. New, Inamorata

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Jack wouldn't exist, because I can't write him!

**Warning: **This chapter contains Faithshipping. If you don't like it, don't read it. To those of you who do, then I must apologize if it's bad. I don't do romance well.

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New - Not existing before; made, introduced, or discovered recently or now for the first time

Inamorata – A woman in relation to the man who is her lover

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There were strangers in her house.

It wasn't that Aki wasn't used to there being so – Papa was a senator and he was always bringing important people she didn't know home – but it was different this time.

There was a boy with them.

He looked about her age, obviously the son of the raven haired man talking to her Papa. Curious blue eyes surveyed the room before landing on her. She abruptly realized he was cute and blushed, pulling farther behind the stair rail she was hiding behind. He frowned thoughtfully and turned back to her Papa. He might have said something, but she was to far away to hear. Suddenly Papa smiled at the strange boy and gently shooed him in her direction. She was far to distracted by the boy's approach to notice the amused smiles on the group of adults.

Surprise at him, she sat glued to the stairs. Carefully, her hazel eyes watched his every move till he stopped a stair away. He offered a hand.

"Hello, Aki. My name is Yusei."

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She said, "I'm afraid of falling..."

And

He whispered, "I have wings"

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"What a lovely girlfriend you have there."

Yusei blinked at the old woman, and then shook his head.

"Not your girlfriend?"

"Yeah"

"Oh," the woman gave a disappointed sigh.

Aki frowns and watches the old woman walk away.

"That's the fifth time today."

Yusei smiles

"Odd, right?"

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I think I'll go anti-love. Really, who wants butterflies in your stomach and your heart skipping beats? That can't be safe.

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	3. Eyes

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Divine would have been punched in the face at some point.

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Eyes – (1) The organ of sight or light sensitivity in vertebrates, usually occurring in pairs.

(2) The ability to see

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Once upon a time, when her fairytale King had yet to leave her behind, Carly's eyes were grey.

Simple, ordinary grey

Nothing like the violet of his own, the gold of his secretary, or the blue of his rival

In an odd way Jack's company seemed full of colors, how could she think simple grey could fit?

It didn't

Well, so what?

They were meant to rule side by side in their perfect world

Her eyes weren't grey anymore

Now they were black

Black and ice blue

And soon his would be black to

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Every second I shut my eyes, it's him I see

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It was only now, when his mistakes had already been committed, that he recognized them and saw them as they were. Driven by want of power and a dream, then driven by revenge; he'd made so many mistakes. He'd lost count of the thing he would never forgive himself for.

Yusei and the others could forgive him all they wanted; he could be content with that. But that fact was it would always haunt him. He could rebuild as many towns as he liked. He could take in as many children as he could take. He would never repay the damage done.

He didn't need to.

He saw now.

While he had done so many things wrong in the past, it was exactly that – the past. Rebuilding Satisfaction Town and taking care of Nico and Wes were the right step for the future. He needed that future.

You could almost say the town was rebuilding him.

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Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.

-Richard von Weizsaecker

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	4. Altruistic, Masquerade

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's the characters would keep their actual names

**Warning: **Slight Retributionshipping, not quite but better safe then sorry.

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Altruistic - showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others

Masquerade – (1) A false show or pretense

(2) Pretend to be someone one is not

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Sometimes, Carly could be remarkably selfless. She would be thinking of other's need more than her own in situations where it was perfectly expected for her to be thinking of herself.

Like her death

When Divine sent her shattering through a 27th story window, she wasn't thinking about her impending death. She was thinking about the information she now knew that might have helped Jack had she been able to get it to him.

Then she thought of Jack,

Then she was totally selfish.

She desperately wished she could have seen him one more time before her date with the concrete. She wished he would miraculously save her just in time. She wished he loved her as much as she loved him. She wished he _knew_ she loved him. She wished they could have had a future together.

She wished…

She wished she didn't have to die.

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Love and death are the two great hinges on which all human sympathies turn.

-B. R. Hayden

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The delicate porcelain mask betrayed nothing.

Luckily, that's what she was aiming for.

Cradling the mask in an almost lovingly, Aki approached the pay counter. The woman behind it looked up from her book to scan Aki's purchase.

"Going to a Masquerade party?"

Aki gave a rueful laugh, "You could say that."

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It's a terrible thing to be alone - yes it is - it is - but don't lower your mask until you have another mask prepared beneath - as terrible as you like - but a mask.

- Katherine Mansfield

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	5. Fortune, Perplexed

**Disclaimer: **If I owed Yu-gi-oh 5D's I wouldn't have to come up with little clever things to say for a disclaimer.

**Warning: **You could almost say there is Careshipping a foot here, but I'm not sure.

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Fortune - Chance or luck as an external, arbitrary force affecting human affairs

Perplexed – (1) of something complicated or unaccountable

(2) Cause someone to feel completely baffled

(3) Complicate or confuse a matter

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Mikage shifted the peonies left and right, trying to get them into the perfect position. The large white flowers tickled the sensitive skin of her hands as the soft petals brushed against her. Deep magenta stained the heart of the flower and they looked pretty without her fussing, but she needed something to do with her hands. Flower arranging had always been a calming past time of hers; furthermore she desperately wanted a nice distraction. The Director was bringing in the newest talent of the dueling scene to the mansion and she was to be his secretary. She was suitably nervous.

She had almost gotten the flowers to cooperate with her when a maid came to get her.

"The Director and Altus-sama have arrived."

Mikage smiled at the girl before dismissing her, smoothing her skirt, and walking out to greet the stranger who would change her life forever.

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Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.

- Marcus Aurelius

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Jack stared at the cup of coffee before him. Confused, he raised violet eyes to the red-head in front of him. Crow scowled.

"Don't give me that look. Happy Birthday Jack and drink up. I didn't buy you your favorite insanely expensive coffee just for you to let it go cold."

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A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely.

-Pam Brown

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	6. Anchor, Apostrophe

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's I wouldn't have killed off Bruno

**Warning: **Faithshipping! And some depressing Kiryu

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Anchor – (1) A heavy object attached to a rope or chain and used to moor a vessel to the sea bottom

(2) Moor (a ship) to the sea bottom with an anchor

Apostrophe – The addressing of a usually absent person or a usual personified thing rhetorically

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Yusei held her as if this were the last embrace they'd ever share; his lips pressed to her neck, his arms latched securely around her. He was her anchor, her savior, her protector. Her arms tightened around him in an embrace just as fierce. In his arms she was safe from everything – even herself.

She had once held Divine as her anchor. He once was the only one to care in a cold lonely world. She clung to him, glued herself to him, because she needed him. He was there for his own gain. He was there to turn her into his own little solider, his pretty destroyer. She still followed. She followed, a naïve little girl in a cruel world. She needed him. If only to convince herself everything was alright.

She wasn't that lost girl anymore, the lost girl crying behind a mask. She didn't _need _anyone like that anymore. She needed her friends. She needed her parents. She needed him. But she didn't need them to numb the pain that did not exist now. She did not need them as an escape, or a master. She only needed them to be themselves.

She was free. She was free to cling in a different way, a good way. She was free to _hold _the man she love, the friends she adored, and the parents that she cared for. She was her own person, herself.

Herself unto herself

Whom she loved

So free from all the things that had bound her, she was able to turn to the man who'd cut the first strings. She was able to _love_ not cling to her anchor. She was able to stabilize her shaking world, and hang on.

Here she stood wrapped in his arms, for once in her life completely content. That was all that mattered: not Leo and Crow's loud protests, not the flash of Carly's camera, or Jack's rude comments. It didn't even touch her.

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Besides she could always get him back for it later.

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Love yourself, for if you don't, how can you expect anybody else to love you?

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"I'm not ready to die."

His words echoed and bounced off the cell walls, lost to the dark. No one answered, no one heard. He didn't expect anyone to. He was alone on his cell block, the cop killer, the one they beat on away from everyone else because they didn't want to alarm the other prisoners.

He sat licking his wounds, physical and emotional. Bruises covered everything from his heart to his skin.

_How dare Jack and Crow abandon him?_

His dislocated shoulder throbbed.

_How dare Yusei betray him? _

His ribs ached.

He was dying, he knew he was. But death would never give him rest, no matter how weary his soul was.

"I'm not ready to die."

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'Tis very certain the desire of life prolongs it.

**- **Lord Byron

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	7. Expatriate

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's that announcer guy wouldn't have that ridiculous hair

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Expatriate – (1) to withdraw (oneself) from residence in or allegiance to one's native home

(2) Banish, Exile

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When he left, he never thought to return. It wasn't his home anymore. It could never be his home again considering that the only people who cared about him over there before were sure to hate him by now.

But this was better, wasn't it?

The fame

The glory

The fans

It was worth it. He didn't need them anyway

Right?

Right.

He was King.

And that's all that mattered.

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Glory built on selfish principles, is but shame and guilt

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He didn't know where he was going, but he wasn't staying here.

Satellite

Neo Domino

Neither was home, no matter if they were together or separate.

He had no home anymore. He didn't deserve one with all the wrong he'd done.

He needed to leave, to forget.

No

To be punished

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I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.

**- **Pope Gregory VII

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	8. Mufti, Haruspication

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Rex Goodwin would be a better bad guy

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Mufti – civilian clothes

Haruspication – an act or instance of foretelling something

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He couldn't really remember the last time he wore regular clothes out in public, so it felt odd –dawned in sunglasses, a black jacket, and a hat - to walk around among people. When he'd been King he had practically lived in his riding suit, and the public shouted his name whenever he walked by.

Now he was a total nonentity, another face in the crowd.

He never felt so worthless.

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I am fonder of achieving than striving. My theories must prove to be facts or be discarded as worthless. My efforts must soon be crowned with success, or discontinued.

-Carolyn Wells

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Jack watched Carly shuffle her deck. She was doing so almost absent-mindedly while waiting for the microwave to finish.

Suddenly, she stopped, drawing one card randomly from the deck.

"Oh no! Not Fortune Fairy Ann!"

Right on Que, whatever was in the microwave exploded.

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Fortune is either with you or it's not.

**- **Tom Araya

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	9. Acrimony, Aphrodisiac

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Crow would have a girl

**Warning: **There's some _interesting_ Faithshipping present, and a bitter Misty (I just can't write any of the Dark Signers happy can I?)

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Acrimony – harshness or bitterness of manner or speech

Aphrodisiac – sexually exciting

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Misty stood alone in the mausoleum, the quiet a comfort from her day surrounded by noise. She hugged her jacket closer to her slim frame to ward off the cold and approached the stone coffin that incased what was left of her brother. She paused surprised at the foot of the coffin.

Her locket, the one she had lost shortly after her duel with Aki Izayoi, sat innocently on the marble steps that led up to the sarcophagus next to a bundle of fresh flowers and a florist's card. Carefully, Misty scooped it up, snapping the delicate clasp back behind her neck. The familiar weight rested comfortingly against her chest.

Misty glanced at the card next. It was simple and unadorned, white. It read simply:

_Aki Izayoi _

Nothing else

Just those two names in curling feminine handwriting

Misty threw her head back and barked out a laugh. It was bitter and sour but it felt good to laugh again.

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And remember, it's also very funny, because side by side with grief lays joy.

**- **Fran Drescher

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(And now for something completely different)

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He had just gotten out of the shower, really. He was pulling on his tank when he walked in on the scene that would ravage his whole morning plans.

Bruno had been tinkering with a prototype all night and was just finishing a minor modification, when he ran into a snag. Shaking his head at his carelessness he turned to Aki drinking tea on the couch. She'd come for help on physics and had been calmly waiting for Yusei to make his appearance.

"Hey, Aki, can you hand me that wrench by your foot? I sort of need it." Aki smiled and set her tea down on the coffee table. Picking up said wrench, she handed to Bruno, bending over Yusei's D-wheel to do so.

Just as the man himself walked in

Then immediately walked out, passing Crow on his way

"Morning!" Crow greeted, walking in just as Aki sat back down. The two in the room greeted him the same. Aki gave Crow a curious look.

"Hey, Crow," she started.

"Hmm?"

"Have you seen Yusei at all?"

"Funny you should mention that, I just passed him coming back from here. You didn't see him?"

"No"

"I think he saw you though," Crow said with an amused twinkle in his eyes, "He was mumbling something about a cold shower."

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I'm so happy I'm not a teenager anymore. The hormones have finally chilled out, and I'm profoundly grateful

- Claire Danes

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	10. Anathema

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Mikage would have the respect she deserves –she a smart woman

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Anathema – (1) solemn curse

(2) Thing or person detested

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There were times Aki almost wished she _was_ a witch.

If she was, she could have hexed that _despicable_ man and turned him into a toad.

Or a dog

Or a stone

Or a **chair**

Walking past Yusei Fudo, Aki muttered curses under her breath. It was a pity they wouldn't come true.

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Who are you taking to the witch burning Saturday night?

-Stan Freberg

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The** hatred** Aslla piscu smeared in her heart was an odd thing.

It simmered in her veins, whispering into her heart.

_**It was also wrong. **_

She didn't **hate** Jack.

No matter what her new blood told her.

Yes, he was the reason she was here.

Yes, he was the reason why Divine was able to kill her.

Yes, he drove her down the roads which lead to her death.

But she did not **hate** him.

**She hated that she loved him. **

She **hated** herself and her weak heart for falling for the man behind the better-than-thou attitude, behind the pretty face.

She **hated** that she wasn't good enough for him to keep her by his side.

She **hated** the one-sided love fortune tossed her way.

Not Jack, never Jack

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To hate, to love, to think, to feel, to see; all this is nothing but to perceive.

-David Hume

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	11. Altruism, Ambivalent

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's it would have had more connections with the previous two series

**Warning: S**ome Retributionshipping/Scoopshipping and not quite Faithshipping

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Altruism – devotion to others

Abnegate – deny to one's self

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He'd only known her for, what? Two days? She'd practically _kidnapped_ him from the hospital. She was clumsy and constantly stuttering over her words. She wore ridiculous glasses and wanted a good scope from him. She was the kindest person he'd ever met.

It was insane to feel the way he did for her. It was crazy. People didn't fall that quickly. Not in real life.

Stuff like this only happened in TV shows and the like.

But he did it. He fell in love with her – deeply in love.

And there was no way out.

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You saved me from myself and made me come alive

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Sleepless nights were not new to Aki. The cause however, was foreign territory. Aki had never been kept up at night by a boy before, so the whole situation left her fumbling on how to cope.

She just couldn't keep him off her mind. The man who was cursed just as her. The man who had eyes like silk woven of cobalt starlight. The man whom she hated without even knowing his name.

Shaking her head, Aki pulled her blankets closer, hoping all thoughts of this dark-haired stranger would cease with sleep. Her tiredness finally won out over starlight and sent her into restless sleep.

Sleep filled with blue eyes and crimson dragons.

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I feel like ripping my heart out and throwing it on the ground, yelling -

How dare you have such feelings for him, it's tearing you apart . . .

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	12. Paradox, Allay

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Misty would have had more contact with Kiryu

**Warning: **Well, I don't remember the shipping name but there's some Misty x Kiryu (love the stuff but god! Mine is so OOC). And some happy (sort of) Kiryu for once!

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Paradox – (3) one (as a person, situation, or action) having seemingly contradictory qualities of phrases

Allay – quiet or lessen

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It was only a matter of time before he needed to do something about his status. And that's how Kiryu Kyosuke, former leader of Team Satisfaction, ended up walking through the headquarters of Sector Security to have a civil talk with a woman. Ha! Kiryu having a civil talk with a female Sector Security officer… if you had told him he would do so a couple years ago he would have laughed himself sick. Even now he was repressing a chuckle.

Eventually he actually got to his destination, though he did not get through before scaring a couple of rookies with a burst of laugher. He was met outside her office by Mikage – at least that's what Jack had told him her name was. They walked in together, Mikage going behind her desk to sit, him taking the chair a crossed from it.

"Now," the blue haired woman started, "Atlus – sama said you were having problems with your status in the system?"

"Well, since I'm sort of _dead_…"

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People fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah, I guess it is a friend.

Jim Morrison

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Of all the people Misty never thought to see again, the last person she expected to run into was Kiryu Kyosuke. She saw him anyway.

She had been on her way to visit her brother; he, standing in front of a grave near by. She almost deliberately avoided him but he saw her before she could duck behind the nearest tombstone. He laughed. She supposed it was at the irony of meeting at graveyard.

The first thing she noticed was that laughter. With all malice and madness gone, it was actually pleasant – tired, soft but pleasant all the same. The next thing she noticed was his overlong hair. The silver blue strands now hung below his shoulders moreover into his eyes. The new wardrobe wasn't a surprise, she didn't think any of the Dark Signers wanted to have any connection to the people they'd been then.

They stood for awhile – taking in changes. His golden eyes felt like fire on her skin, a molten brand. She absently wondered if hers felt the same. Kiryu looked away first.

"You're here to see your brother." It wasn't a question, Misty nodded any way. They hadn't talked much in their time together but that didn't mean he didn't know her story.

"Why are you here?" She asked, not sure of her motives. He barked out another laugh. This one wasn't pleasant and more tired.

"This man," he gave a vague wave towards the tombstone, "I killed him – bludgeoned him to death."

She didn't speak.

He laughed again.

"How do you do it?"

He raised a brow, "bludgeoned a person?"

"No, laugh"

"Forgiveness," he chuckled, "and having my friends beat it in to me."

She smiled faintly, turning away to gaze unseeingly on to the countless graves.

"I don't have friends to do so for me. Carly doesn't remember. She was the closest thing I had." Misty murmured, half to herself and half to him. She missed the thoughtful look he gave her as they stood in silence. He shifted, awkwardly placing an arm over her shoulders and pulling her close. She stiffened in shock and stared at the grey fabric of his trench coat. Slowly, adjusting to being in his sudden embrace, she unfolded her arms from being pressed to his chest to enclosing his torso. He was warm and it felt nice to held after so much time alone.

"I'll make you a deal," he breathed in to her hair, "I'll be your friend if you'll be mine."

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A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open. 

**-**Francis Bacon

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	13. Glance

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Bruno would have been around longer

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Glance – (1) A deflected impact or blow

(2) A swift movement of the eyes

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Though his voice was calm and his expression placid, rage shimmered in his form like back lighting. The man before him shivered as cobalt daggers dug into his soul to see the darkness within.

"Get out"

Quickly, he dragged himself off the floor where he had been tossed like a discarded toy and scrambled away. Yusei watched him till he disappeared around a corner, a wolf watching its prey run for cover.

Carly approached while rubbing her new bruise. His eyes fell on the blotchy purple hand prints now temporarily branded into her skin, and briefly casting regretful a look over his shoulder to the place her attacker fled.

"Are you okay?" he asked, turning back to her. Carly laughed – relieved.

"Thanks to you, I am."

Yusei shrugged.

"What are friends for?"

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Friendship is a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote the good and happiness of one another

Eustace Budgell

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Her eyes were molten amber, burning from the inside out. Time froze in those depths, locking their gazes in a breathless battle. He remained impassive and she was emotionless but for the blind hatred that leaked around the edges of her like blood beading on the skin.

Then she was gone, leaving the memory of lava gazes to cool in the wake of the lingering sent of her perfume.

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To linger in the observation of things other than the self implies a profound conviction of their worth

- Charles Damian Boulogne

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	14. Renge

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh 5D's I be able to read more than the first three chapters of the manga!

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Renge – (1) To make a denial

(2) Revoke

(3) To go back on a promise

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It took three weeks since escaping to Neo Domino for Jack to quit looking over his shoulder. He kept expecting to see Yusei coming up beside him, to glare at him and demand the return of Stardust Dragon. He even half expected Crow to storm up on him to yell at him for abandoning his friends, for stealing Yusei's card and prototype D-Wheel, and most of all for turning his back on everything he'd known. They found him even in his sleep. Invading his dreams, his brothers would show up.

He'd be dueling with them.

He'd be laughing with them.

He'd be fighting with them.

He'd be crying with them.

Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and took sleeping pills to erase the dreams. It drove them from their last refuge in his mind. And he was left alone, just as he wanted.

No more flashes of grey and blue

No more large smiles and quite laughs

No more Crow and Yusei

A King had no use for _friends _

And Jack was nothing less

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A true king is neither husband nor father; he considers his throne and nothing else.

- Pierre Corneille

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There were times, waking from nightmares, that Aki was angry at Divine. No matter what her savior had promised he could never think for her so much that dreams would not haunt her. Her own thoughts swirled a whirlpool in her sleeping mind, a kaleidoscope of blue and red. Her dreams and the man that inspired them dragged her into the pit of emotion and thought they had come from. Soon they troubled even her daylight hours, whispering his false words in her ear again and again. The words had to be false…

She would stay with Divine, even as another man came to rule her thoughts. He was her caretaker, her home, and she had nowhere else to go anyway. He could keep his promises that much. Divine would never abandon her, betray her, she needed to believe that.

If she didn't. . .

Starlight eyes would taint her dreams forever.

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Better a broken promise than none at all.

- Mark Twain

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	15. Recreant

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Carly would have more of a part in the second season

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Recreant – (1) A cry for mercy

(2) Unfaithful to duty or allegiance

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_You can scream all you want, no one will hear_

_No one will care_

_You're just a freak, just an outcast, just a __**witch **_

_No one loves you and no one will_

_Not your parents_

_Not Divine _

_Not Yusei_

_Not your so-called friends_

_Not even yourself_

_**Scream**_

_Scream all you want_

_You'll never get away from me_

Fed up with the whispering voice, Aki tossed what was left of the Mask of the Black Rose Witch into the fire.

"Shut-up"

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..

.

I have no mouth, and I must scream.

- Harlan Ellison

.

..

…

Crow's fist hit the wall, wishing it was Jack Atlus' face. The smug blond in the impeccable white riding suit deserved a punch.

Why was everything falling apart?

.

..

"_Victory for the King!" _

..

.

Yusei turned off the TV, despite the protests of his friends. He just couldn't stand to watch Jack lie to all those fans of his.

Why was their bond in such a state of disrepair?

.

..

"_A crushing defeat at the hands of the King!"_

..

.

Kiryu lay in the dark listening to the guards talk about the newest King of Riding Duels. He bit back a scream of rage so hard his teeth ground together painfully.

Why was the coward King?

.

..

"_The King stands brave in the face of his new opponent!" _

..

…

Lovers have a right to betray you... friends don't.

- Judy Holliday

…

..

.


	16. Recompense, Repetend

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Crow would have more plot

…

..

.

Recompense – an equivalent or a return for something done, suffered, or given

Repetend - a repeated sound, word, or phrase

.

..

…

There were several places in the Facility where no one could hear you scream. It was a fact Misty Lola had learned recently and was determined to use to its full potential. Here sitting a crossed from her brother's murderer, the model launched her justice.

Sage met Ice as they locked gazes; there was no sound except for breathing in the small room. The air stirred restlessly at the meeting of their wills. Without his Duel disk and cards, Divine's physic powers were almost useless, but that didn't stop the atmosphere from reacting to the instinctual gathering of said power.

"So," the former leader of the Arcadia Movement spoke, mainly to break the tension filled silence, "disappointed I'm not rotting in a lizard death god's stomach?" Misty smiled icily and examined her nails.

"No, not really" casually she rested her chin in the palm of one pale hand, clicking the perfectly manicured claws of her other hand against the metal table top. "It was too fast last time. Not to mention it was revenge – revenge is bad."

"And what you're planning now is not?" Divine asked raising the only brow he had left. Misty graced him with another frozen grin.

"Yes" She reached down and pulled the equipment she needed from a case resting on the floor beside her. In surprise and barely suppressed fear, Divine tugged on the handcuffs that kept him in place. Not bothered by his resistance Misty placed a horrifyingly familiar metal cap over the man's rust colored hair.

"This is my recompense"

…

..

.

Punishment is justice for the unjust.

**- **Saint Augustine

…

..

.

"No"

The witch laughed as she ran vicious red nails through the dark hair of her captive. His eyes were closed in his refusal to look at her.

"You say that a lot."

"My answer won't change."

Pale hands framed a swarthy face, skimming a crossed the soft skin. The witch paused to admire the contrast

"It's too bad if it won't; you're rather beautiful for a male. Won't you reconsider?"

Velvet lips ghosted over his.

"No"

Her tongue dived in to his mouth, exploring his denial. With a gasp he pulled away, clamping his jaws shut. The witch sighed. Trim fingers fell to graze his throat.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to end your beauty"

.

..

…

Fantastic tyrant of the amorous heart

How hard thy yoke, how cruel thy dart

Those escape your anger who refuse your sway,

And those are punished most, who most obey.

Matthew Prior

…

..

.


	17. Repartee, Vapid

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh 5D's Sly (Surai, his Japanese name) and Divine would be related

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..

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Repartee – a) A quick and witty reply

b) A succession or interchange of clever retorts

Vapid – lacking liveliness, tang, briskness or force

.

..

…

As much as change was inevitable, the fact that some things _never_ changed was a given.

Jack and Crow would always fight. Even the little things caused them to clash. One word there, one gesture there and they were at each other's throats. It was a solid fact that every time one ran into the other they had to exchange verbal weapons – if not physical hits.

"_Listen, you're not **always** this stupid, why are you making an extra effort today, Crow?"_

"_I was trying to see the world from your point of view. I just can't seem to get my head that far up my ass though." _

…

..

.

I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am.

- Ann Coulter

**.**

**..**

…

Growing up, they were never close. They were more than five years apart and had little in common. What they did have in familiar traits only served to drive them farther apart.

Not to mention the physic powers.

Though his had faded to nothing by the time he was ten, his older brother had only gotten more powerful. He pulled away even farther when the only thing really connecting them was gone. He had little interest in a younger brother who had no powers.

When their parents died in a fire, the thread totally snapped.

While the younger of the two brothers was sent to live with a near by aunt, the elder completely disappeared. In fact the last thing that was heard of him was that he had started a movement for physics.

Surai couldn't really say he cared.

…

..

.

I'm emotionless right now. It's hard to describe how I'm feeling.

- Wes Short Jr

.

..

…


	18. Fata Morgana, Remuneration

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh 5D's the Black Rose Witch would have more to her

**Warning: **Twisted Faithshipping!

…

..

.

Fata Morgana – mirage

Remuneration– payment

.

..

…

He tried to ignore the trailing fingers running down his back, focusing on the computer screen. He failed. They were cold and working their way underneath the fabric of his black shirt. Deftly they scraped a crossed the tense muscles of his abdomen. He bit off a hiss as their polished nails raked against the sensitive skin.

His hand snapped from the keyboard to grasp a pale wrist. The owner tugged distractedly to regain the appendage while the other sunk towards his buckle. The teasing fingers were caught millimeters from their destination; a cold figure pressed against him. Soft breasts crushed against his back and velvety lips skimmed his ear. Without his consent, his breath hitched.

Her laughter rung in his ear as she pulled away. Almost in a bored way, she pushed his keyboard aside and off the table, sitting in its place. Dull amber studied him with frozen amusement. They burned trails into his skin and stung his eyes with a vision he did not want to see.

"She's in love with you, you know." She stated, skating a pale finger along the edge of his jaw. He didn't respond. Casually, she back-handed him, sending his head snapping to the side. He kept his gaze there even as she drew herself into his lap. She curled her arms around his waist, pressing against him once more.

"I'll admit you certainly are handsome. But you really aren't so beautiful as to inspire such…_devotion._" He fought and lost to the shiver that ran the length of his spine as her breath ghosted over his skin. Her lips curled into a mockery of past smiles before she jerked his face forward to look at her. A soft, generous mouth crashed against his. He fought another losing battle to not react to the harsh kiss; a gasp was ripped from his will. Her smirk grew upon his lips, her pale hands slipping into his dark hair as she moved to deepen the contact between their two mouths. He gasped again and pushed her away – horrified at his reaction to her.

Had she been in the mood his response might have been amusing. She wasn't however, the knowledge that he wanted her despite his pesky morals burned in her veins like hot embers. She sneered and back-handed him again.

"Why?" she demanded, frustrated at his resistance, "You want me. You want this body. Why won't you take what is being offered free?"

Blue turned to meet dull amber.

"Because you're not Aki."

…

..

.

Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust,

Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.

- John Webster

.

..

…

Aki Izayoi was a vulnerable girl.

Aki Izayoi was a victim.

The Black Rose Witch was not.

Nothing and no one hurt the witch. She was the one taking the victims. Everyone was vulnerable to her. They were the one's hurting and screaming.

Not the witch

The witch only felt joy, happiness, because the people that dared hurt and shun Aki Izayoi were getting their reward. Aki was in pain. So where they. It was simply fair.

The Black Rose Witch was – after all – a supporter of justice.

…

..

.

It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge.

Friedrich Nietzsche

.

..

…


	19. Fallacious, Recumbency

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Yusei's mom would get at least one line

**Warning: **Faithshipping! It's funny this time!

…

..

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Fallacious – tending to deceive or mislead

Recumbency – the state of leaning, resting, or reclining

.

..

…

Yusei came back to Poppo Time Garage from picking up new parts for the engine prototype not to find Bruno working as he expected, but starring into space in complete shock. Judging from the unfinished tea and forgotten physics homework Aki had sent him there. The blue haired man looked up at him almost frightened as he approached.

"First, I have to say how sorry I am." He said, practically squeaking. Baffled, the head signer gave him a confused look.

"You like Aki don't you?" he questioned. Yusei's face went blank.

"Well…" Bruno looked down, fiddling with the zipper on his vest nervously, "Because of how well we hit off, she kinda thinks – uh, well – that your – cough – _gay_."

"_**What?**_"

With the expression on his face, one might have thought Bruno told him his D-Wheel had been painted pink and covered with sparkles.

…

..

.

If I want to go to a party with a few male friends, it doesn't mean I'm gay.

- Leonardo DiCaprio

**.**

**..**

…

Crow wasn't surprised to find Yusei asleep on the couch – because honestly the guy looked like he could have slept on his keyboard and been perfectly comfortable – it was who he was sleeping _with_ that surprised him.

In a tangle of navy and burgundy, Yusei lay with Aki. The red-headed woman was sprawled over him like a content kitten. Yusei's arm was tossed around her trim waist, and his nose pressed to her hair. Aki's homework was open on the coffee table, so Crow guessed falling asleep together was not the original plan.

That did not stop his snicker as he reached for his phone.

…

..

.

Sleep, that deplorable curtailment of the joy of life.

-Virginia Woolf

.

..

…


	20. Fantoccini, Hallucinosis

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Divine would actually have a point in the plot besides killing Carly

**Warning: **Twisted Faithshipping

…

..

.

Fantoccini – a puppet show using puppets operated by strings

Hallucinosis – a pathological mental state characterized by hallucinations

.

..

…

She hated him. He took away her pain, her power. With no pain she faded and lost all hold on Aki's soul. Aki was so _good_ now – so happy. Powerless.

She hated it and hated him. In the darkness that lingered in Aki's heart she boiled, she burned. He had stolen from her. He had stolen her power and given her nothing of his own in return. He had stolen her love, and then had the nerve to ignore her very existence. All _he_ cared about was _Aki_.

_Aki Aki Aki _

So while Aki Izayoi remained an unsuspecting love struck fool, the Black Rose Witch plotted in the shadows.

Yusei Fudo would pay.

…

..

.

Deep in her breast lives a silent wound

-Virgil

.

..

…

_He doesn't want you_

_You're a friend, nothing more_

_Nothing more _

_No man will ever love you _

_Divine didn't _

_Yusei doesn't_

_No man you want will ever want you _

_You may be pretty on the outside, but you certainly aren't pretty on the inside – all torn up and broken_

_What man would want a mess to clean up?_

_A mess that made him bleed when he only wanted to help? _

Aki's fist hit the mirror, shattering it. She hit it again. The woman in the bloodied sliver reflection laughed with dull amber eyes.

"Shut – up, **Shut – up**, _**Shut – up**_!'

…

..

.

A woman is always a fickle, unstable thing

-Virgil

.

..

…


	21. Debacle, Darb

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Yusei's dad would have more flashbacks

**Warning: **Crack! I think...?

** Author's Note : **I will be moving the rating of this story to** T **next chapter

…

..

.

Debacle – a great disaster

Darb – one that is extremely attractive or desirable

.

..

…

"Crow"

"Yeah, Yusei?"

"Explain"

"Explain what? Why Jack's in a ball gown, why Bruno is stuck to the ceiling, or why I'm holding a shot gun?"

"… -sigh- …I should be paid to look after you guys."

…

..

.

True friends stab you in the front.

- Oscar Wilde

.

..

…

The sound of doors slamming open then closed echoed through Momentum Labs. Fudo-Hakase came through the rooms like a storm, muttering angrily under his breath even as he arrived at his office. The normally placid man practically simmered as he pulled his files out of his desk. The draws of said desk were snapped out then shut with just as much force as was applied to the doors.

Rudger sighed.

"Alright," he gave in indulgently, "I'll bite. What's wrong?" Fudo-Hakase cast him a steely, one-eyed glare over his shoulder. Rex paused curiously behind his brother.

"If being happily married to a wonderful, _pregnant_ wife is not blatant enough proof to the people you work with that you are _not_ gay and are _not_ interested, what is?" The dark haired man looked so exasperated, that Rudger felt sorry for him instead of amused.

Rex had to stifle a chuckle however.

…

..

.

I've just found out there are pages on the internet dedicated to whether I'm gay or not.

- Matthew Perry

.

..

…


	22. Preterminal, Contrition

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-g-oh! 5D's Sherry would have been in the first season

**Warning: **Retributionshipping and dark Faithshipping

**Author's Note: **In case you hadn't noticed, the dark Faithshipping drabbles are related.

I suppose you could say they are a series. They all connect to the Aki drabbles that have the Black Rose Witch talking to her. If you want me to discontinue them I will, but if no one says anything I will keep putting them up.

…

..

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Preterminal – occurring before death

Contrition - The state of feeling remorseful and penitent

.

..

…

To say they were not each other's killers would be untrue, but that did not mean they did not love with a burning passion. Neither of the two had loved another nearly as much as they did their partner. That was exactly why they were tangled up in bed together. No fervor had raged in their blood as strong as the one between them, no other love could quite bring them to their knees.

Pale hands skimmed over equally pale skin, pale as death. Trim feminine fingers dug into blond hair that shimmered in the candle light of the dark bedroom. Male hands, callused by a harsh life, clenched on to the delicate flesh of a slim waist, causing a soft gasp as the nails drew blood. The woman's hands tugged roughly at the gold within her grasp. A harsh growl dragged itself from the male's throat, his hands snapped from her waist to her shoulders. He brought his lips to hers then pushed her back in to the silken sheets. Death blackened gazes held each other in a dark embrace.

For a moment the softer, more pure, unsaid love that had brought them to this point filtered into their souls. The darkness that ruled their hearts had pushed this gentle love away; it had replaced it, remade it, in a violent passion that shook the foundations of creation into the world in which they now lived and ruled.

The male pulled away, the mood ruined by memories of lighter days. A scowl etched itself on to his perfect face as he tossed on clothes to stalk to the balcony. Hands clamped onto the railing, he surveyed his kingdom - the one he had gained by throwing away the sweeter love that had been offered him. Slim arms wrapped around his torso from behind; a cool figure pressed to his back.

"Jack…" the words were hesitant and whispered, almost betraying worry had the emotion not been a weakness they had shed long ago.

"I'm fine Carly."

…

..

.

How delicious is pleasure after torment!

- Pierre Corneille

.

..

…

Yusei would not look at her. He didn't want to see the proof of what she had become or the evidence of what he had done, what he had given in to. His gaze was firmly locked on the wall beside his bed. The white paint displayed nothing of what had occurred, unlike the lush woman sprawled against his side.

A low laugh hummed acrossed his skin. She shifted, pressing generous curves to his form. Teasing hands tripped over his chest and up his neck. She grasped his chin, forcing him to see. Cruel lips curled in to a sardonic smile as she moved a pale hand to ghost over the marks on her delicate flesh. Against his will he watched those fingers; had she been the woman she really was, he might have felt something other then a deep sense of biting regret at the sight of those trailing fingers and reddened flesh they caressed. He had betrayed her. He had betrayed the woman he loved with the woman she had used to be.

The Witch laughed again as he turned away.

…

..

.

Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love.

- John le Carre

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..

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	23. Fait Accompli, Flout

Disclaimer:If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Crow would have shown up sooner in season one

…

..

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Fait Accompli – A thing accomplished and presumably irreversible

Flout – To treat with contemptuous disregard

.

..

…

_You're a fool_

Aki, alone in some nameless hallway of Duel Academia, stumbled and hit the wall. She froze as the voice continued.

_You thought you could turn your back on me so easily?_

_You thought you could sever our connection by destroying its physical bond?_

_Wise up, child_

"No," horrified Aki shook her head to clear it, sliding down the wall she was pressed against, "You're gone, I'm not- you're not- _we're_ not… _It's not like that anymore!_"

_You think so?_

_How naïve_

_Once a witch, always a witch_

_Did you think you could just decide not to be what you are?_

A sob ripped its way from her chest. Burying her face in her hands, Aki wept until there were no tears left to fall.

Dull amber peeked though pale fingers.

…

..

.

A lot of life is dealing with your curse, dealing with the cards you were given that aren't so nice. Does it make you into a monster, or can you temper it in some way, or accept it and go in some other direction?

-Wes Craven

.

..

…

Sage green eyes studied the child in the cradle with little interest. The sleeping infant had been unwanted by him, why should he care? He had not wanted to be an older brother.

He would wait and observe the child. If he reviled similar powers to his own, he may prove useful. The first follower to the ideas growing to plot in his mind's eye. The child, however, was no used to him without powers. This pale, grey-haired boy waking to see his older brother for the first time would be better off dead without them.

The boy that would soon be called Divine turned on his heel and walked away. Violet eyes indifferently watched him go.

…

..

.

The problem here is with a human being, not with a monster, not with an animal. The human being does things that even the monster does not do, because the human is more sophisticated.

- Peter Malkin

.

..

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	24. Fairshake, Imperium

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's it would still be running

…

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Fair-shake – a fair chance or fair treatment

_Imperium_ – (1) An area controlled by a supreme power

(2) Supreme or imperial power

(3) The use of the power of the state to enforce the law

.

..

…

As Divine took his opponent's queen with his white pawn, he studied the man's impassive face. Either ignoring the red-haired man's inspection of him or not caring, he moved a knight forward. Divine countered and took the knight with a bishop. The piece's owner showed no remorse for the horse figurine, he simply moved a rook.

"I never expected _you_ to visit me," the former leader of the Arcadia Movement injected into the silence, an attempt at distraction, "I expected Aki over you." Divine moved another pawn. The move was matched and the pawn was blocked from any farther advancement by one of its own kin. The man did not answer, eyes locked on the chess board. Divine frowned.

"Why _did_ you visit me?"

This time his opponent responded – with a casual shrug. Divine scowled deeper at the man, his thin fingers hovering over a rook then deciding to grasp a pawn. The pawn was quickly taken by a bishop, which Divine took with his queen. The other player moved his rook once again.

"Checkmate"

Divine blinked and realized he'd made a fatal mistake: he'd left his king open for attack by moving his queen, giving his opponent's rook - which had been sitting in wait nearby - the opportunity to make the final move.

"You're losing your touch, Divine." Yusei said indifferently.

…

..

.

You cannot play at Chess if you are kind-hearted

- French Proverb

.

..

…

With a practiced flourish, Divine signed the contract attached to the clipboard he had been handed. With a simple ball point pen he had just became the new owner of a recently demolished lot in the heart of Neo Domino. The official beside him shook his hand and left – presumably to file the paperwork. Divine was left alone as one could be in the city.

With a slight smile, the red-haired man bent to pat the ground in a seemingly affectionate gesture.

"Upon you an empire shall be built, my friend."

…

..

.

Look to the past and remember no empire rises that sooner or later won't fall.

- Al Stewart

.

..

…


	25. Implicate

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's the two seasons would have more in common

**Warning: **there is Dr. Fudo x Mrs. Fudo in the second drabble. Because Dr. Fudo and Mrs. Fudo were not given names in the series, I have given them each a name.

…

..

.

Implicate – (1) To fold or twist together

(2) To involve as a consequence, corollary, or natural inference

.

..

…

Crow was never sure if he found them or if they found him, but either way they were brothers. No matter what came between them it would always be true. Bonds such as theirs did not simply go away, they held on even as the strained, frayed, and burned.

Destiny tore them apart constantly and patched them together forever with the same turn. Fate hacked at their heartstrings as they betrayed, hurt, and ignored each other, and graphed the loose ends together. Time demolished the fragile fences they had erected in their souls and rebuilt them to surround all of them.

For better and for worse

Crow wouldn't have it any other way.

…

..

.

Grief knits hearts in closer bonds than happiness ever can; and common sufferings are far stronger links than common joys.

Alphonse de Lamartine

...

..

.

The gears of fate clicked as they tumbled against one another, sliding the numerous possible pathways' parts into play as they were selected by the actions of mankind. One section stilled in wait for all that would determine its next move. The choices that lay ahead in this path were ever so important. That the right action be made by its inspirents was crucial for destiny and the future of the star child that held crimson strings of providence in his solid grip.

Two gears turn into place

_Click…_

_Click…_

_And… _

Masumi kept her eyes trained on the math figures printed on her text book if only to keep from staring. The town library, not usually occupied since most preferred the extensive collection at the collage she attended, was no longer in possession of a lonely population of Masumi and the old, snoozing librarian. A man had entered 3.6 minutes ago – a rather handsome man – disturbing the count of human occupants with his ridiculous attractiveness and equally ridiculous crab-like hair.

He looked like a male protagonist from one of the romance novels her roommate was obsessed with: tall, dark, and handsome. The way his rich, black hair fell over one eye in a carless fringe gave him just enough of a touch of bad boy that would have another girl panting at his feet. Masumi was, however, glued to her chair in a bout of familiar shyness that caused many people to think she was antisocial. The stranger spared her one glance before moving to browse through the non-fiction section. A flush spread a crossed her pale cheeks before Masumi concentrated her attention on the numbers in front of her.

_If the hotel balcony is estimated to be 12m high…_

The man ran pianists' fingers through raven locks in a fruitless attempt to push them from his view as he flipped trough a book on connective particles. They both noticed she was staring at the same time. He gave her another, more curious this time, glance. She flushed (once again) and looked down. Her pencil trembling in her grasp, she scribbled a random answer down for the problem she was on.

"That's wrong." He announced, studying her with one teal-grey eye. She molted into another shade of red as she saw that he was right. Furiously she erased it while trying to ignore the inane flutterings of her heart in response to his addressing of her. He pencil was introduced to the paper again to write her new answer.

"That's also wrong." No matter how attractive he was he deserved the glare she shot him. He apparently thought it was funny and laughed. "Here," he said, approaching from the bookcase he had been browsing, "you're forgetting to carry." He snatched her pencil and corrected the mistake.

Masumi fought the urge to smash her head in to the work desk, flushing (for the third time now) in embarrassment – and close proximity to an attractive male – instead. He chuckled. She sent him another glare, this one less heated. "It's a simple mistake," he offered in comfort and ignoring her glare, "everyone makes them sometimes." He handed her the snatched pencil. She took it, placing in her pencil case as he stood-up. She tucked the paper neatly away into a labeled folder, done with the assignment, as he watched her thoughtfully. The folder was dropped into a bag at her feet.

"Thank-you for your help" she murmured, bowing formally once she rose. He nodded absently and half turned away before looking back at her.

"Fudo Hisoka"

"Huh?"

He smiled, "My name is Fudo Hisoka."

_Click… _

_Fate turns…_

...

..

.

Can you make a mistake and miss your fate?

**- **Sarah Jessica Parker

.

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	26. Admonish, Inebriate

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Z-one would have actually been Yusei

…

..

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Admonish - Warn or reprimand someone firmly

Inebriate - To make drunk, intoxicate

.

..

…

It took forever to work up the courage to ask her, a moment for her to say yes, and a day for everything to go downhill. The next day after asking Aki Izayoi out on a date, he was tracked down by the person he never thought to see in real life.

"If you hurt Aki," Yusei Fudo told him, leveling visor shielded, cobalt eyes with his, "I will _personally _see you to the ER." Then, satisfied with his warning, the current Duel King was gone. Only the lingering sound of his D-wheel riding off proved he had ever been there.

He was certainly more intimidating in real life then on TV.

…

..

.

It's always intimidating to meet an icon.

**-**Jennifer O'Neill

.

..

…

"Yusei would never help us with this."

"You're right. Hey! That's a first for you Jack."

"Shut-up and focus on what's important"

"Right"– a pause - "If Yusei won't help us – who will? He's the only one we know who would be smart enough to figure this out for us."

"Well who is still smart and loves to help his friends even more than Yusei does?"

"Who?"

"Drunk Yusei"

- another pause – "You're just being a fricken' genius today, aren't you?"

"Shut-up Crow and get the booze."

…

..

.

An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.

Ernest Hemingway

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..

…


	27. Starkers, Opprobrium

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Mikage would have had more purpose

…

..

.

Starkers - U.K. slang for completely unclothed and uncovered

Opprobrium - something or somebody that brings shame or disgrace

.

..

…

Her first move after claiming Aki's body had been to ditch the all too recognizable Duel Academia uniform. Riffling through Aki's locker had proved to be a successful venture, turning up spare clothes neatly folded in her school bag. A satisfied smile curled onto her lips at the feeling of burgundy satin slipping through her fingers.

She changed into the soft dress that had been hidden in the bag right there. She was not concerned with pesky propriety and even less bothered by self-consciousness. The body that the Witch and Aki shared was beautiful, she had no insecurities. The hallway was empty anyway; the other students were confined to their classrooms.

The uniform hit the floor with a pleasing rustle.

…

..

.

Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That or a kick-ass red lipstick

-Gwyneth Paltrow

.

..

…

To his everlasting shame, he had not noticed at first. He'd been busy. She'd been scarce. Even when they did spend time together their conversations were stilted and some unnamed tension swelled in the air; she kept her distance – seemingly too lost in her own thoughts to respond with any precision. It bothered him, this new space between them, but he assumed she was simply adjusting and it would fade with time. He hadn't known until the Black Rose Witch insisted on a face to face introduction, until she had greeted him in his own bedroom in poisoned splendor…

**He had been wrong.**

He had been wrong, and it would haunt him every time he looked into her murky amber eyes.

…

..

.

Failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.

**- **Jim Rohn

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..

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	28. Façade, Fabulist

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-gi-oh! 5D's Stephanie would get an honest tip for dealing with Jack, even with the crush she has on him.

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Façade – (1) The front of a building

(2) A false, superficial, or artificial appearance or effect

Fabulist – (1) A creator of fables

(2) Liar

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Divine had thought he was a master at the art of creating the perfect lie. He had thought he was the best at keeping everything – every scheme, every thought, every secret – to himself, feeding his blind followers what they wanted to hear to keep them in his thrall. It had seemed, metaphorically of course, that he was a puppeteer, winding his beautiful little puppets' unbreakable strings tightly around his hand and around their throats. Those flawless strings spun from his delicately lovely wed of deception were his masterpiece, if you will, his Mona Lisa.

He came to find though, that he wasn't quite as good as he had thought. In the practice of Mythomania, Fudo Yusei could teach him lessons with the seasoning of a true master. Seemingly sincere words fell from his lips like rain drops from the sky, softly caressing his target as silk on bare skin. His expert falsehoods were spoken so perfectly all took them for the truth. Only those who understood the lies that needed to be told to control one's subordinates – like Divine himself – could detect the hollowness of every mourning bell word.

So_ perfect_ were his lies. They wove a spell that captured even the stone heart of his best puppet. His pretty Aki, once ever so eager to please him, now faithfully drank down each word from that poisoned cup the blue-eyed creature offered. His poor, blind rose, lost in charming daggers and star shine knives, noticed not the cobalt winter seeping into her precious roots.

It mattered little, however, who held her in his palm now. Divine was nothing if not patient and Aki was nothing if not his. Sooner or later, Yusei will have exhausted her usefulness to him and when he did, Divine would be there to catch her as she tumbled from her prisoner's embrace as he always had before.

Maybe he could even pick up a lesson or two along the way; he was never one to miss chances.

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It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.

-H. L. Mencken

**.**

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Yusei could count on one hand how many times he had lied, all in situations where he'd had no other choice. He had never really understood why others tangled themselves in intricate knots over things that would be solved so much easier by telling the truth. Wasn't it better to be honest and avoid all those knots of deceit unraveling and just causing more trouble?

That, coupled with honest distaste for the physic, was one of the many reasons he did not understand Divine. The man was falsehood incarnate; and while Yusei realized that the lies had been necessary to maintain the Arcadia Movement, he could not grasp just why he wove so many lies and ended so many lives just to create a house of destruction.

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No one can lie, no one can hide anything, when he looks directly into someone's eyes.

-Paulo Coelho

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	29. Kismet, Monochrome

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's, the last time I checked I wasn't Japanese.

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Kismet – Fate or destiny

Monochrome – The state of being in a single color

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"I knew you would come back to me eventually."

The Witch cocked a brow, "Oh?"

"One is lost without her master to guide her, after all."

That seemed to amuse her greatly. She laughed, taunting, "I'm not _quite_ so lost."

"Aren't you?" He gestures vaguely to her person, "What little control you had and gained since you've left my care has vanished completely."

She laughs again and a frown wrinkles his half destroyed forehead.

"It's much more liberating this way, Divine." the Witch replies, "I'm not lost – just free."

It was his turn to be amused, "Free, Aki? No one is truly free."

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What a cruel master is Fate, for from Fate one can never be free.

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He had forgotten what the true color of her eyes were. Murky amber had long since banished all recollection of brighter shades. They were poison, tainting every treasured memory of the girl she once was, the girl he loved. Sweet smiles and rosy blushes had been replaced with vicious smirks and taunting hands. The Witch had reached into his heart, destroying all that belong to _her_ and what was left of his resistance. Then, after tearing him apart, she sowed him back together. All crooked and ragged, her threads dyeing the affection that had bound him to Aki in the first place to the one color that now suited her fancy.

_**Black, Black, Black **_

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Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.

-Kurt Vonnegut

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	30. Velleity, Immolate

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh! 5D's is not the property of the fanfiction author known as In Stiches

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Velleity - A slight wish or tendency

Immolate - To kill as a victim offered in a sacrifice

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Gently, belying his work calloused hands, Yusei applied salve to the delicate skin painted various shades of violet and crimson by bruises revealed on Aki's bare shoulder. It was all Aki could do not to blush. She had_ certainly_ been blushing when she had asked her friend to help with the bruises she could not reach: the rewards of repeatedly falling off a D-Wheel.

His salve slicked hands were pleasantly warm against her skin, and, though the burgundy bruises littered a crossed her back were painful, she wished briefly she had more. It settled uncomfortably on her mind- that it felt so good to have his hands on her that she would have endured a thousand crashes and obtained a million bruises to keep them touching her. She wondered if she was developing a problem.

It was over too quickly. He was done, and she was biding him thanks. Yusei simply smiled at her, a small twitch of the lips really, telling her it was no problem.

She wanted to kiss him.

She just smiled.

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Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow, the herb most bruised is woman.

- Euripides

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Divine would never admit to the fear that struck him as he watched the first experiment die. He was surrounded by warriors of his own training, if he miscalculated and his hold on them slipped he'd be dead. For the first time in more than decade he doubted the stability of the movement and doubted his own abilities. Could he really hold against all of his potential opponents?

All momentary dread faded as if it had never been there as no reaction flitted over their faces but remorse for the subject's death. As his assistants turned to him for what to do, it was all Divine could do not to laugh.

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Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting.

-John Russell

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	31. Aesthetic, Versicular

**Disclaimer: ** I own nothing but the sore wrist that was put in to typing this

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Aesthetic – (1) Of beauty

(2) Appreciating beauty

Versicular – Of relating to verses or vesicles

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The first thing he had realized when he saw what was behind that mask was that she was beautiful.

It had been startling, having never placed value in physical appearance before, to find himself so suddenly attracted to a woman who probably wouldn't have cared if he died. The new feeling was almost frightening - growing even as she almost destroyed him on the field, growing even as she hurled everything she had at him. All he could think about though was not his own pain, but hers. The pain that radiated in each of her moves - the pain that stained the blossom black - was all he could touch, nothing of his own.

She was beautiful in tears too.

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It is a beautiful trait in the lover's character, that they think no evil of the object loved.

**-**Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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If there was anything Yusei could not do, it was write poetry. It was ridiculous but true. All attempts, mostly preformed on the odd whim, had come to not and he had been forced to conclude he was not made to pursue the frivolous activity.

Normally such things wouldn't matter in his life. The lack of this talent however, always found its way to trip him up. In fact there was only area in his life that he did not have to worry about it cropping up – Romance.

Aki hated poetry.

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He who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life.

**-**George Sand

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	32. Princox, Misthrope

**Disclaimer: **Yes, I am the owner of 5D's… right?

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Princox – a pert youth

Misthrope – a hater of mankind

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Ushio looked over his file to study the suspect in question. The red-head shifted restlessly in his seat, golden criminal markers shimmering faintly in the florescent lighting of the interrogation room. Grey eyes skittered over walls that were no doubt familiar before resting on the officer and giving him a broad wink.

"What can I say?" Crow Hogan offered with an easy smile, despite his serious surroundings, "I'm a kleptomaniac."

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I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death. 

-Leonardo da Vinci

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"People are all the same." The Witch informed him, spidery fingers running through his hair. She smiled down at him with a twist of the lips as hollow as her eyes. He didn't respond. She didn't want him to. Her smile widened, flashing teeth in a wolf's grin.

"Foolish creatures, the lot of them," her words were saccharin to the point of bitterness, mocking laced with delicate tendrils of artificial sweetness, "they want the wrong thing – want the wrong person." Burgundy nails dug into his cheek as she slid her hand from his hair to force his eyes to meet hers. Her form, all that was and all that was not, he found just as sickening as her words. He turned away. Her laugh bubbled over his bare skin like boiling water. The witch moved closer, curling around him like a cat in a false lover's embrace.

"Of course, you're not like that, Yusei. Are you?"

He said nothing. She laughed again.

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And all the winds go sighing, for sweet things dying. 

-Christina Rossetti

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	33. Renidification, Adminicle

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's

**Note: **Because I have no response to the poll on my profile, I will be including one next gen. drabble this chapter. If you do not want me to continue to upload these, please make a point of saying so. If no one speaks up, they will continue.

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Renidification - The act of rebuilding a nest

Adminicle – support, aid

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While Martha was always glad to see one of her boys, the circumstances of this visit could have been better. Besides the shock of him showing up in the middle of the night, Yusei had also provided another in the form of a crying, squirming bundle being pressed into her arms with an almost desperate, "I don't know what to do."

Her mothering instincts and years of practice had come in then. Recognizing that the babe was hungry, Martha made her way to the kitchen for formula and a bottle. She barely noticed Yusei fall into step behind her, eyes lock on the child in her arms, as she shuffled through the door way and to a memorized cupboard. The bottle was found, the mixture concocted, and set to heat before she noticed his continued presence. She wasn't really surprised, she never expected him to leave.

The liquid was ready quickly and the bottle was filled. She promptly settled the baby in Yusei's startled arms, then handed him the bottle, correcting the position as he fumbled with the unfamiliar task. He grasped it much easier than she thought he would, murmuring something to quite for her to hear to the child as it fed.

"Now," Martha announced quietly, as to not startle the now drowsy baby or wake the household, when Yusei set the finished bottle down, "mind telling me why you've shown up in the middle of the night with a crying baby?" He looked distractedly at her briefly; his gaze going back to the babe when it yawned, cooed, and subsequently fell asleep.

"She was crying. You would know – did know - what to do. I didn't."

Martha shook her head, causing dreads to sway around her motherly face, "But why do you even have the child?" She didn't really expect a direct answer. She knew her wards, and with Yusei's attention absorbed by the sleeping bundle in his arms, dragging relevant answers from him would be like pulling teeth.

"Her name is Hoshi."

She checked her knee-jerk reaction to pinch the boy's cheek as she did whenever he was being exceptionally stubborn or shut-off. Giving him a warning look he did not see, she started opening her mouth to start metaphorically pulling teeth when he interrupted her.

"They're gone, Martha."

"Who's gone, child?" the hurt and confusion in his voice, the sheer amount of emotion that was usually lacking, softening her voice even farther. He looked up at her, a worrisome amount of self-blame in those blue eyes.

"_They're_ gone," he repeated, "I don't know where. She must have not wanted me to know." He shook his head as if to clear it. "We were _happy_ before. _I don't understand_." He stopped and looked down again at the child again. A sick feeling crawled over Martha, her gaze falling on the babe as well. She could not tell the baby's eye color, but the hair – now that she looked at it – was unmistakable. This child was not one Yusei had simply found.

Martha looked upon the sleeping face of her granddaughter.

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I am a grandmother now, and that means age is creeping on, creeping on.

-Lillie Langtry

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He couldn't quite say when it was he fell in love with her. When he met her at the Fortune Cup he had certainly be attracted, but it had never been the stereotypical 'Love at First Sight'. He had found her beautiful, that's all.

She'd been in so much _pain_**. **Life had twisted the sweet natured woman he could see just beyond the surface, into a vengeful wraith who enjoyed the suffering of others. He had wanted to simply help her, be her friend, and have her on his side way before he had fallen for the woman he had helped unearth from the wreckage of her past.

But once he had known, lived, and laughed with this woman he had no choice but to fall.

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Love is not blind; it simply enables one to see things others fail to see

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	34. Amaranthine, Incubus

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's

**Warning: **Human!Blackdust and Scoopshipping

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Amaranthine - Unfading

Incubus - Something that oppresses, worries, or disturbs greatly, esp. a nightmare or obsession

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Normally, the quite of his realm did not bother Black Rose. Thousands of years ago it had been her sanctuary, a place to rest from the battles that they waged upon their dark counter parts. But now, caught up in the turbulent emotions of her master - the poor, abused girl - and tense for their upcoming battle, the years of separation from him took its toll.

Lost in the riot of noise that was her soul, she could not take comfort in the quietness that was his anymore. That, more than anything, tore what little she had left of her heart that he did not own. It made her sad –and wistful – looking over the time where they had found that silence in the company of each other. The lack of sound that hung in his colorless world now was only a thorn to tell her he did not need her anymore while she very much needed him.

Her dark hair and red robes a splash of blood and ink on white linen, she collapsed onto silver dunes that rustled without sound - the landscape of his realm. The soft sand like material gave way under her form and compressed to match it. It seemed to welcome her back, as if she had been gone merely minutes instead of five-thousand years. She had to fight back tears at the familiar fondness it offered; she had torn through his realm to confront him about their looming battle, not to weep about what time and fate had stolen from her.

One rebellious tear fled from the grasp of her will, making its way down her cheek in a gentle trail, stopped only by the tender fingers of an unforgettable touch. She did not know when he had returned, but that hardly mattered now. The one thing that mattered was how Stardust held her as she cried.

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Your head says,

"Who cares?"

Then your heart whispers back,

"You do, stupid."

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The nightmares started two days after he left.

Sick twists of memory mashed with dream invaded her sleep every night since Jack Atlus left Neo Domino. It left her screaming, aching with horror, and paranoid. Was that black in her eyes? Was that a mark on her arm?

It got so bad, that she started waking her neighbors. Each night it got worse. Each night she'd wake to screams falling from her mouth and knocks on her door. She couldn't even take a nap without blood, darkness, and Jack's agonized face swirling through her mind.

By the time Jack returned to briefly see his friends, foster mother, and assorted acquaintances, she was taking sleeping pills just to make it all go away. They were not totally effective: making the screaming decrease, but not the vivid source of it all that still haunted her every sleeping moment.

It was only after she had seen him again, and made sure that he was unharmed, that she slept peacefully for once. Assured that even in her nightmares her own personal savior could not defeated, she slept her first full night of sleep in months.

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My sleep wasn't peaceful, though. I had the sense of emerging from a world of dark, haunted places where I traveled alone.

― Suzanne Collins


	35. Relume, Reductio

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's

**Note: **The second drabble is the conclusion of former drabbles in which Yusei is visiting Divine in his cell.

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Relume - To light or light up again

Reductio - Disproof of a proposition by showing an absurdity to which it leads when carried out to its logical conclusion

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_I've decided that you are right_.

Dull amber snapped –surprised- to the reflection shimmering in the sun glazed visor of Yusei's helmet, placed casually on the leather upholstered seat of his D-Wheel parked in the light steaming from one of the garage's few windows. Aki blinked back at her from the plexiglass, vibrant gold eyes tinted in blue. The Witch froze in confusion.

_Once a Witch, Always a Witch _

_I made myself into a monster and I can't change that_

_I'll always be you_

Aki closed her eyes in brief contemplation, a soft smile curling on faint features. Something within the Witch trembled in response. Her gaze narrowed and Aki's lashes fluttered open to meet the silent glare.

_But you won't always be me_

"No," the word wrenched itself from her lips, weak and despicable, "You can't."

_I can and I will_

_You're not me anymore_

_Everything you said I was _

_Everything you said all those I care about felt _

_They don't apply to me, not really _

_I'm taking my body back _

The helmet hit the floor with the angry sweep of an arm.

"Never!"

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It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

-Buddha

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"You know," Divine called after his leaving companion, "You never told me why you came here to visit _me_ of all people. I highly doubt that this was a social call."

Yusei hovered in the doorway of the tiny cell that had been Divine's home for about a year. Blue-eyes thoughtful, they swept over Divine one more time then he shook his head. He seemed to deliberate over what he was going to say briefly before speaking.

"I have a theory," he explained, not really expecting the red-haired man to care and therefore choosing to say it quickly and short, "that once things are set straight for them, most people can generally be salvaged from the consequences of bad choices and their own faults of personality." As he expected, the former leader of the Arcadia Movement only looked amused. Divine barked out a laugh that rang unpleasantly in the confined room.

"And have you determined whether I am one of those people?" he questioned mockingly, sage irises glittering wickedly in the florescent lights. He reveled in the faint annoyance that flitted across the younger man's usually blank face.

"You're the only one who's proven me wrong."

Divine laughed again.

"Thought as much."

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Redemption is something you have to fight for in a very personal, down-dirty way. Some of our characters lose that, some stray from that, and some regain it.

― Joss Whedon

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	36. Intermezzo, Bacchanal

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's

**Note: **Please remember that since the show does not give Yusei's parent's names, I have given them my own – Hisoka and Masumi respectively

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Intermezzo – a short, light piece between the acts of a serious drama or opera

Bacchanal - characterized by intemperate drinking

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Hisoka Fudo made an interesting image with his stubborn bang clipped back in her pink barrettes. _He_ didn't mind the color of course – once he was caught in a project, one could dress him from head to foot in pink and he wouldn't care – but Masumi found it decidedly distracting. She had to stifle giggles every time she saw the cherry blossom clips wedged into his dark hair.

So distracting…

Eventually noticing her distraction, Hisoka sighed in the middle of pushing a falling barrette back into place. Scowling as yet another snicker was wrenched from the helpless young woman beside him; he sent her a mock glare.

"Why didn't you give me a different color, if you even guessed you might be rendered disabled by the sight?"

Masumi smiled.

"Pink is your color."

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All you need in the world is love and laughter. That's all anybody needs, to have love in one hand and laughter in the other.

**-**August Wilson

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Through the blinding headache, Yusei could grasp three things.

1) He was on the floor

2) His D-Wheel was in his room

3) And Aki was on his bed

"What the-"

His closet door banged open, cutting off his words. He winced at the sound, then winced again as whatever it was that had fallen out of his closet caught the faint sunlight streaming thought the crack in his curtains and flashed brightly. Covered in gaudy sequins, Yusei recognized Jack's dress jacket, more ridiculous then it was when he'd last saw it and moving. A green head shook itself from the folds of the glittery monstrosity, and Rua shot him a glinting smile.

"Yusei," Rua beamed, "you're so much fun when you're drunk!"

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A man's true character comes out when he's drunk.

**-**Charlie Chaplin

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	37. Catoptrophobia, Circumambulate

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's

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Catoptrophobia - the fear of mirriors

Circumambulate - to wander, to roam

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Yusei watched quietly, careful to stray from the Witch's flaring rage as she destroyed and removed every reflective surface she could get her hands on. Larger things, like the D-Wheels with their polished to perfection shine, were avoided though, and for that, Yusei was grateful. Had she taken to getting rid of them, there would be nothing he could have done to hide her presence and nothing she could do to hide it herself. The Witch's odd behavior and littered bruises here and there were much easier to cover up then a missing D-Wheel.

He was sure, though the question as to why echoed in his head, that he would hide her even through his own anger at the destruction of the motorbikes, had she decided to do so. That and the reason why he hid the Witch in the first place was lost to him. He knew that with the help of family and friends of Aki, they could bring her back to them. He knew that if he only reached out to those close at hand to always help, they could bring the _real_ Aki out from what ever dark hole her past self had shoved her.

He said nothing however, when given the opportunity. Some how, he supposed, he knew somewhere deep that this was Aki's fight. That she and she alone must defeat her own personal demons. He, nor anyone else could interfere.

It did not stop him from wishing he could.

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Sometimes, to be a good friend, you must stand aside and let them fight their own battles

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Kiryu had lost count of the miles he had traveled long ago; the only things to testify of the distance between him and the physical reminders of his sin was the weariness that clung to his bones and dirt caked to the soles of his shoes. He'd been walking so long the bottom fabric of his trousers was no longer black; having been colored the tawny brown of the earth beneath his feet kicked up by each step, they were stiff with dirt.

Hot in the disappearing sunlight over the wasteland he'd been traveling, Kiryu tugged at the collar of his maroon shirt as if it chocked him. More weary then he could ever remember being, his hand dropped heavily back to his side, throwing off his balance on already weak knees and making him stumble. He swayed with the movement, vision doubling in exhaustion. His foot hit the rocky soil awkwardly and sent him crashing to his knees. The collision sent his breath from his lungs in an audible rush and rippled more waves into his vision. Dehydrated and feeble, he could not rise to his feet, instead falling forward as he tried to get up. The moment his head hit the ground, Kiryu fell into unconscious.

He had not seen the small town glimmering in the haze of the sunset, nor the gang of leather clad men kicking up dust as they rode from town.

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And I've been walking 'round with memories way too long.

**-**Iris Dement

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	38. Ambuscade, Substantiate

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's

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Ambuscade - An ambush set for someone

Substantiate - To confirm that something is true or valid

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Carefully hidden, Crow crouched, listening for approaching footsteps. His hands sweating with mounting anxiety, he shifted his grip on his gun to make up for the slickness of his palms. It tightened at the hard sound of booted feet clanking against the floor as they entered the darkened room. Like an animal ready to pounce, Crow tensed in his hiding place. His keen gray eyes peered through the permeating, early morning gloom for a visual on his prey. His breathing slowed to a crawl as the footsteps came even closer; the orange haired signer shifted his grip one more time on his weapon to be sure of steadiness.

Yusei flipped the light to the living room on just in time to be privileged with an even better view of the streaming water from Crow's water gun hitting the side of Jack's face. He stood frozen in the door way as the irate blond chased the shorter male round the room, screaming threats and swear words the whole way. A long-suffered sigh fell from the blue-eyed teen before he retreated to his bedroom to avoid being involved.

"I need new friends."

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We know our friends by their defects rather than their merits

- W. Somerset Maugham

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"I have boy hips!" Carly's voice shrieked from Misty Lola's extensive closet, rending a sigh from said model. Placing her tea aside on a nearby coffee table, the elegant woman rose, and stepped into the wardrobe.

Carly, standing just inside with her hands buried in and musing her thick black hair out of panic, was starring horrified at her reflection. The pretty gray-blue dress Misty had given the reporter clung snugly to her figure. Though the girl's position gave the dress no justice, her legs spread and bent at the knee awkwardly, the older woman could tell it fit like a glove. Another sigh fell from Misty's lips.

"Carly, I've seen your hips more then you remember," Misty paused as a thought wormed its way to the forefront of her mind and smiled secretively, "and so has Jack I'll wager. I Think he and I could both on good authority guarantee you that you do _not _have boy hips."

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I find the female tragedy of insecurity to be hilarious. We get obsessed over issues like the tiny skin tags on our backs or that we're fat. You read one line in a magazine and it sends you into a tailspin.

Lake Bell

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	39. Lachrymatory, Floriferous

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's

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Lachrymatory – a vase for tears

Floriferous – Baring flowers

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Silver shards clinked against tiled floor, the Witch watched as her reflection split and multiplied shattered mirror tumbling down in razor sharp slivers. Something deep inside her trembled, giving in to the unwarranted shivers that had threatened to wrack her entire frame. Thousands of golden eyes looked back at her from the distorted image. Nearly finding the strength to turn away completely, the Witch glanced back up at the fragmented remains of the broken mirror that now lay at her feet. Repeatedly, in order to keep her eyes from straying back to the face of her creator, the Witch reminded herself of what she knew to be the truth: that there was no justified reason to feel this way – nothing about the woman who had made her to escape what she was too weak to handle was remotely threatening to one such as herself.

"Don't send me back."

The words fell from her lips without consent, but it was too late to take the truth burdened words from the air. It was a desperate plea, a realization of the loneliness that had crystallized her being to knives against her creator and the darkness of abandonment Aki held over her head. The Witch had been born from that abandonment and wanted no more. She could lie and torment and punish all she wanted, but they both knew what the cause of this rebellion was.

Somewhere beneath that mask of smirks, taunts, and pain was a little girl afraid of being left in the dark again. A little girl was there, crying in the night, because the only people who really looked at her had tossed her away.

_I never intended to. _

That was the Witch's first real smile.

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"He's a good man. You chose well."

Carly fought off a flinch at the lingering, gossamer sadness in those words. As it was, she could not bring herself to raise her eyes from the delicate bouquet clenched between her hands to look the other woman in the face. She only realized she was crying when Mikage moved to lower her veil, wistfully admiring the intricate lace. Carly watched the liquid run down the petals of the flowers instead of meeting that honey gaze. She knew the blue haired woman was waiting for a reply.

The unbearable guilt crushed her heart; the reality of what she was doing to Mikage made it impossible to even glance at the woman beside her, much less say anything. How could she when she was marrying the man of both of their dreams? How could she when she was stealing someone's happily ever after? Even though it was what she had fought for all along, even if the woman had long since conceded victory and married someone else, it was all she could do to answer without sob hitched breath. She hadn't thought marrying Jack would be this hard.

"I know." She heard her voice, hoarse from tears, say. "No woman could want anyone else over a man like him." It was almost lie. Neither said anything about it. Mikage smiled with trembling grace.

Carly smiled back, her smile just as fake.

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But I couldn't be happier

Simply couldn't be happier …

Well - not "simply"

'Cause getting your dreams

It's strange, but it seems

A little - well – complicated…

-Thank Goodness, Wicked

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	40. Axiom, Betroth

**Disclaimer: **I do not own I do not own Yu-gi-oh! 5D's

**Note: **Unfortunately, this is the last chapter of Pot of Greed. While I am still debating creating it, another 5D's story is in the works. This series will continue the first drabble of chapter 33 – Renidification, Adminicle.

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Axiom – Self-evident truth

Betroth – (1) To affiance

(2) To pledge marriage

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Tentatively, Aki lingered in the doorway, watching Yusei work on the engine he had worked on even through the Witch's emergence. He seemed so evolved with the project, she hardly wanted to disturb him; only the knowledge of the Witch's actions against the man who had done so much for both of them ( and who both had grown to love) kept her from sliding away to avoid him. With a sigh, she pushed her herself away from the hard door frame.

The moment her heels clicked against the concrete, however, she nearly stopped, the flinch and sudden tightness in Yusei's shoulders it caused striking her heart.

"As you can see," he said without looking at her, his voice as tense as his shoulders, "I'm fairly busy. You'll have to find other another form of entertainment, I'll be working into the night."

"Yusei…"

He paused at her voice; silence followed her whisper like a child. Blue eyes gazed surprised and wary over a bare shoulder. Whatever tool he had had in his hand then hit the floor with a clinking that hurt her ears. Hastily, he stood.

"I'm…," she stopped, unsure of what to say, "I'm back." She was unable to say anything more, at least without it being muffled into the fabric of Yusei's shirt. Aki smiled against the cotton, leaning forward into his arms.

"Welcome back."

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Love, from its awful throne of patient power

In the wise heart, from the last giddy hour

Of dread endurance, from the slippery, steep,

And narrow verge of crag-like agony, springs

And folds over the world its healing wings

-Percy Bysshe Helley

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Hisoka Fudo contemplated his companion silently working on the physics home work he was supposed to be helping her with through the still rising steam ghosting from his coffee. Almost off handedly he made note of how the hazy view softened the thoughtful crinkle of her brow, flushed the pale pink of her bottom lip caught between her pearl teeth, and turned her pale skin to alabaster. Not that it was needed to make her beautiful in his opinion, but the steam certainly added an odd sort of charm. Not to mention he actually thought the wrinkle that disturbed her brow as she worked was adorable and did not wish to see it gone when he had the perfect chance to observe it.

He lifted his mug and sipped the dark liquid it contained, if only to distracted him from fanciful thinking. It did not work. He continued to mutely watch her, and inwardly lament on the loss of her crinkled brow as she decided on an answer. She smiled a brief satisfied twitch of the lips and proceeded to write down her doubtlessly correct response. The smile made him what to smile over her achievement too, even if it was only one simple question on a easy worksheet. 'Through the haze or no.' he concluded in his thoughts, placing the warm mug back down, 'she certainly is an appealing sight.'

"Masumi?"

She looked up at him, pencil paused mid figure.

"Marry me."

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In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing.

- Mignon McLaughlin

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	41. Arbitrate, Arbitratrix

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

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Arbitrate – To settle or decide (a dispute); achieve a settlement between parties

Arbitratrix – A female who arbitrates or judges

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"Yusei?"

Bruno paused in his typing as the familiar voice of Aki Izayoi called the name of his fellow mechanic. Glancing up, he found the girl – a vision in red – standing hesitantly on the landing. He shook his head at her, indicating that the person she wanted was not in the vicinity. In fact, Yusei, along with Jack and Crow, had left not minutes earlier to visit their foster mother Martha.

"Oh." She replied, shifting her book bag straps as if they carried a great weight and bringing Bruno's attention to its presence. She had obviously come here to ask Yusei for help on her homework, Bruno realized, but was inclined to leave when she knew the one she sought was gone. He wondered briefly what she'd do; from what he'd overheard, Aki really did need all the help she asked for on physics. Would she simply muddle through or give up, the mechanic wondered, turning back to his keyboard as Aki fumbled with the door. Bruno stared blankly at the screen and sighed. He pushed himself away from the computer and cleared his through to draw her attention.

"I can help you with your homework if you like," he offered when she placed those amber eyes of hers upon him, "I know just as much about physics as Yusei does."

She hesitated with her hand on the door handle, her apparent dislike of him warring with her need of help. Finally, she shrugged, descending the stares to draw warily closer. She settled next to him into Yusei's chair. Spreading her homework over the desk as Bruno pushed aside the keyboards; she leaned close to point out and explain her snags in each problem she was having trouble with. Her gentle perfume filled in the small distance between them. He focused on the math problems.

"Ah," he intoned, noticing the flaw in her work. "You're mixing up your scientific notions on this first one."

"But," Aki blinked, starting forward to pour over the work, "It says 10^-19, doesn't that mean you add that many zeros?"

"Well, yes, but you see…"

They didn't finished till it was late, closeted together over the textbook. Yusei and the others had found them pressed together as Bruno explained the ins and outs of each problem when they returned, Aki nodding along enthusiastically. They chattered still after they had finished - friendly words that had not been exchanged between the two before. Bruno could even feel safe to say that they were starting a budding friendship by the time Aki had exclaimed over the clock that she had to go.

She cast him a pretty smile as he helped her put away her books, a smile he had never been graced with before and was glad to receive now, and turned to with the returned others a good night. They all returned her leaving salutations and the red head left with another easy smile.

Sighing in satisfaction over finally having made friend of the stand-offish female, Bruno turned to Yusei as Jack and Crow went their separate ways as well. He blinked when he saw that his friend was regarding him through narrowed eyes.

"Is something wrong?" he edged, baffled by Yusei's strange expression.

Yusei frowned thoughtfully and glanced to the door Aki had disappeared through.

"No." he answered, turning back and brushing past him, "let's get back to work."

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Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

-Albert Camus

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"Your face tells of an interesting future for a dead man's." Misty Lola's cold voice clicked out behind him. "An interesting future for an interesting young man."

"Oh?" Kiryu challenged, turning away from the gloomy Satellite landscape to face her, "what do you see, future teller?"

She drew herself up beside him, placing an icy hand on his cheek. Her touch sent needles crossed his skin in feeling too close to a tingle for his liking. He looked away and pulled her hand from his face.

"I see guilt and depression in your future." She whispered solemnly, even though she had no guarantee that he was even listening. He snorts derisively. "That hardly sound's interesting." He replies, observing once again the ruined land they resided in. She smiles her grim smile and he catches a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye. She once again touches him, sending her needles into his shoulder as she gently sets her slender digits upon it.

"But I also see hope," she says, "I see happiness behind that darkness." She pauses as if to make sure he is listening and he tenses under her hand.

"I see salvation."

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Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

-Oscar Wilde

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	42. Dissolution, Cessation

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds

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Dissolution – Separation, rupture

Cessation – Ending

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A choking concoction of death, old blood, and dust - the stale air filtering through the old abandoned church reeked with an ominous aura. The aura was not unwarranted. Demak shifted before the bloodstained altar, his legs going numb beneath the knees as he kneeled there. He knew not how long he had kneeled there as his leader spoke on about the duty any owed by any of their god's followers to prove their devotion. He knew, however, that when this speech was concluded, he would be stretched crossed the altar and his life would end with the swift downward motion of a killing strike.

He did not want to die.

Briefly, Demak wondered if this was a test of his faithfulness by his god. Was his want to cling to life when he should be honored that his life was the one chosen to be given in sacrifice to his god a sign that he was unworthy? Had others before him felt the same? Even those who had fallen to his own knife? Why was he questioning everything he knew now just when it had come to its ultimate fruition?

A bell rang in the stone rafters, solemn and dry – a death toll. Demak swallowed down his questions and the heavy saliva that gathered in his mouth along with his fear. They burned his throat on its way down, his eyes rising to meet those of his leader.

He'd do anything not to die.

He did not want to die.

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The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

-Mark Twain

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Misty heard nothing but the faltering beats of her heart as she was wheeled into the hospital by frantic nurses. She wished they hadn't bothered. If no one had pulled her from the wreckage of her destroyed car, she would have been with her brother by now. She didn't want to be saved, not this close to never being alone again.

She could hear him calling her now, filtering over her heart. He whispered her name, told her how much he missed her, told her how much he hated the Black Rose Witch from taking him away from her, told her how much he wished they could be avenged. Misty listened.

"She took you from me?" she asked him, ignoring the nurses around her as they pushed their way through a mob of paparazzi.

'_Yes,'_ he whispered back, '_do you want to revenge me, sister?' _

"Of course!" she answered, "but how? I am dying."

He laughed now, a little boy laugh that touched her heart. '_Just say you don't want to!' _he said, fading from her mind's eye to be replaced by a rearing lizard. It glowed a sickly green and stared into her soul, dark with promise.

"I don't want to die." She told it.

The lizard smiled a cold reptilian smile and laughed her brother's laugh.

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While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself.

Douglas Horton

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	43. Appertain, Ennui

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds

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Appertain - Belong, be connected

Ennui - Listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement

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The rush of the wind buzzing around her head, sending her blond hair into a wild flurry of gold and whispering its secretes into the shells of her ears, sealed the deal the first time Sherry LeBlanc had rode a D-Wheel. She had been drawn at first by the convenience in which it fit into her revenge, but now it was so much more. Sitting astride the warm leather seat, feeling the bike hum beneath her like a wild cat ready to pounce, she could not understand how she had ever done without.

Suddenly, it was as if she had found a missing part of her soul on the wind. It was as if, upon this mighty beast - lost in the wind's caress, she had filled in that last puzzle piece that had been missing since the death of her parents.

She ran a hand lovingly crossed the handle bars.

It was almost enough.

Almost

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For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

-Judy Garland

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Her life had been dreadfully dull until the oh-so-gorgeous Jack Atlus had interrupted it with his ridiculous coffee drinking habits. It had drudged by without incident for years, never too exciting, never too busy. She woke up, went to work, went home – the dream, right? It was only when Jack and his friends had moved into Poppo Time that her quiet life took a turn for the thrilling.

Duels, D-Wheels, love rivals. Abruptly, Stephanie was caught up in the fast lane, all because of Blue-Eyes Mountain coffee and a handsome face. She was whirling in colors and danger. She was caught in the tornado of it all, not knowing when the excitement would end.

Then it did.

Then Jack and his friends were gone from her sleepy section of Neo Domino and Stephanie was back where she started.

Wishing the boredom away

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Boredom: the desire for desires.

- Leo Tolstoy

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	44. Hither, Animosity

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds

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Hither – To this place

Animosity – Strong hatred or ill will

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Green eyes swept over the dusty mansion their owner stood in for what seemed like the hundredth time. It needed serious cleaning, Sherry admitted to herself, running a finger through the dust collecting on the mahogany woodwork. She blew the grey substance from her hand and wiped the rest away on the leg of her pants. She smiled at the empty entrance hall.

"It's been awhile," she whispered into the dim room, the power having been shut down ages ago, "but I think I'm ready to come back to you." A cheery vision of lighted chandlers and bustling maids cleaning the mansion to a polished shine swimming to the front of her mind, made her wistful smile edge on genuine happiness. She was coming home.

Mizoguchi shifted behind her.

"Welcome home, Madame LeBlanc."

"Yes," she replied, turning her smile upon her companion, friend, and butler. "I'm home."

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The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.

-Maya Angelou

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Maybe it was because of his name – to give a possibility way out of question –, but Jack Atlus was a ridiculously good blackjack player. He never lost, always ending each game with a perfect twenty-one.

Aki hated him for it.

Jack refused to ever duel her, probably a self-preservation issue, and only thing they could ever come up with to do when forced to spend time together was to play _some _sort of a card game. At first the only one Aki had known other than Duel Monsters was blackjack, which Jack constantly beat her at. Soon Aki resorted to learning other games. Piquet, War, Spades – none worked, every game ended with her soundly beat by the arrogant blond.

That was another thing she hated him for.

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Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.

-Steven Wright

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	45. Propinquity, Confluence

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds

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Propinquity - nearness in place or time

Confluence - coming together

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Yusei sometimes wondered why the sudden gap between Jack and him appeared. They had been so close before Team Satisfaction and even some time after it all fell apart. He and Jack had been the best of friends, the closest of brothers. They had been Jack and Yusei, not Jack Atlus and Yusei Fudo like they were separate entities. Somewhere in the aftermath, space had wormed its way between them and driven them apart like a wedge into cracked wood, dividing them forever.

Being just "Yusei" was awfully lonely.

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A true friend is one soul in two bodies.

-Aristotle

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A vampire stalked under the moonlight. The city glowed around him in a restless buzz, a distant distraction for the ancient creature as it observed the pale form of his prey. Golden eyes glimmered in the reflection of streetlights and neon signs. Those same lights cast his death white features in an array of shadows, varying in opacity from murky darkness to pitch black shades. Those shadows, no matter how flighty in density, concealed him enough to go unnoticed as he clung to the building's edges to watch unswervingly, when the woman he targeted made her way on to the ornate balcony to his left.

The beautiful woman basked under the night's shrouded glow, lit by the stolen light the moon harvested from her brother the sun. Rising delicate arms, she ran her fingers through her raven hair, the spindly digits exposing her throat to the creature. At home in the darkness marred by city activity, she leaned with a contented sigh against the stone railing. She stood unmoving then, and he could take no more.

The vampire made his move.

In a movement no louder than a faint whisper, the prowler lowered himself on to the balcony. His footsteps were just as silent; his gaze dropping to her bared, alabaster neck. The creature felt his hands clench with the need to tighten around that black silk hair and drag her head back so he could feast. He unfurled his fingers with shear steel will. Instead, he took her wrist, swinging her around to face him and trapping her against his chest. The woman smiled coolly up at her captor.

"I was wondering when you'd get here." her polished voice drawled. "There is only so long a girl with a busy schedule like mine can hang out in the night, Kiryu. I was about to go inside."

Kiryu smirked.

"Shut-up, Misty."

He bent her head back and drank.

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I have never met a vampire personally, but I don't know what might happen tomorrow.

-Bela Lugosi

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